Artist Cynthia Vale

Welcome to the ValeDiscovery homepage. This is the homepage for artist Cynthia Vale.

ValeDiscovery features my latest project, the Edit-Delete Series which is available for purchase. 86 pieces in all. The first 8 have been completed and can be viewed here.

The Edit – Delete Series is a reification of a particular social media application that was banned and ultimately lost from Facebook in 2009. The application entitled “Miracles of St. Dymphna of the Mentals” showcased “miracles” in the metamodern sense of hope and idealism oscillating with despair and cynicism. The Edit – Delete Series is a series of screenshots from this application transferred onto canvas with minimal editing in order to serve as historical artifact. Each piece (86 in all) explores the underlying themes of the original “Miracles of St. Dymphna of the Mentals” application including cynicism, tongue-in-cheek humour, thought experiments, and hopefulness. Online fans traded classic miracles such as “Omniscience” or “Witness the Face of St Dymphna on a Tortilla”, and metamodern miracles like “Unlimited sex appeal,” and “A never ending prescription of Prozac.” The screenshots are taken from the application developer’s POV in terms of adding, rearranging, and deleting content. A single miracle is highlighted with several thumbnails in the background. The Edit – Delete Series is online content reified into the offline world. Each piece is a record of what was lost.

The greater context explored is the tension between freedom of speech and redaction embraced by government, world religions, corporations, and news media. The art is intended to challenge the viewer’s own opinions. Would they mentally edit and/or delete certain images, being in the position of developer?

The Edit-Delete Series started with a single image. A close friend photoshopped my face onto an image of St. Dymphna. I had no idea who she was. A quick search told me she is the Saint of the mentally challenged, the insane. I found humour in this and of course decided to make something out of it. I considered, what kind of crazy miracles would St. Dymphna sanction? Thus, the application was born. And eventually dissolved. And then finally reified into old-fashioned canvas art. Each piece is 27x43x1.5 inches.